Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville

Portrait of the Marquis de Denonville

Jacques-Rene de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville (10 December 1637 – 22 September 1710) was Governor General of New France from 1685 to 1689.

Replacing Joseph Antoine de LaBarre, Denonville set out to make King Louis XIV proud. The Iroquois Confederacy had been a nuisance for half a century, hampering New France's efforts to establish itself as a profitable colony. Although France and England were at peace, Denonville sent Sieur de Troyes north from Montreal with a hundred men (most likely the troupes de la marine), to capture the English fur trading posts on Hudson Bay. The victory was swift and profitable; word of the French attack would not reach the English for months. Denonville then set out with a well-organized force to Fort Frontenac, where they met with the 50 hereditary sachems of the Iroquois Confederacy from their Onondaga council fire. These 50 chiefs constituted the entire decision-making strata of the Iroquois. They had been lulled into meeting under a flag of truce. Denonville seized, chained, and shipped the 50 Iroquois chiefs to Marseilles, France, to be used as galley slaves. He then ravaged the land of the Seneca. Before he returned to New France, he travelled down the shore of Lake Ontario and created Fort Denonville at the site where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario. This site was previously used by La Salle for a fort named Fort Conti from 1678 to 1679, and was later used for Fort Niagara, which still exists to this day.

The destruction of the Seneca land infuriated the Iroquois Confederacy, who considered the Seneca the most honoured nation of the Confederacy. This, coupled with the dishonourable loss of their sachems, demanded they set out to terrorize New France as never before. Denonville's regulars were dissolved and dispersed to towns across the land, attempting to protect New France's homes and families. Forts were abandoned. The Iroquois destroyed farmsteads and whole families were slaughtered or captured. On August 4, 1689, Lachine, a small town adjacent to Montreal, was burned to the ground. Fifteen hundred Iroquois warriors had been harassing Montreal defences for many months prior. Denonville was finally exhausted and defeated. His tenure was followed by the return of Frontenac, who replaced Denonville as governor for the next nine years (1689–1698). Frontenac had been arranging a new plan of attack to mollify the effects of the Iroquois in North America and realized the true danger the imprisonment of the sachems created. He located the 13 surviving leaders, and they returned with him to New France in October 1698.

When Denonville had returned to France, the king continued to show his confidence in Jacques-René by appointing him as a tutor to the children of the royal household.

Anniversary medal

Obverse of the Denonville medal

Reverse of the Denonville medal

A medal commemorating the 250th anniversary of the 1687 Denonville Expedition was created by the Rochester Numismatic Association in 1937. The medal obverse has an image of the Marquis de Denonville while the medal reverse shows the timeline and path of the expedition.

References

New France portal

Kingdom of France portal

• William J. Eccles, "Brisay de Denonville, Jacques-René de, Marquis de Denonville", Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2000).

• "Seigneur and Marquis de Denonville". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04732a.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-17. 
• the Canadian Encyclopedia - Biography

Government offices
Preceded by Joseph-Antoine de LaBarre	Governor General of New France 1685 – 1689	Succeeded by Louis de Buade de Frontenac

Persondata
Name	Denonville, Jacques-Rene de Brisay, Marquis de
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	10 December 1637
Place of birth
Date of death	22 September 1710
Place of death